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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Eury Comics’ Bronze Age and Beyond! PUBLISHER John Morrow

DESIGNER Rich Fowlks

COVER ARTIST Michael Golden (A commissioned illustration from the collection of Michael Eury.)

COVER DESIGNER Michael Kronenberg

PROOFREADER Rob Smentek

SPECIAL THANKS Dennis O’Neil Marc Buxton Benjamin Raab Rose Rummel-Eury DC Comics Jerry Smith J. . DeMatteis BACKSEAT DRIVER: Editorial by Michael Eury ...... 2 Steven Thompson FLASHBACK: Superman vs. Monsters in the Bronze Age ...... 3 Roger Stern If and mad scientists weren’t enough, Metropolis was also plagued by monsters Michael Golden Toho Co. Ltd. Grand Comics 20th Century FLASHBACK: Batman and the Horror Genre ...... 15 Database Film Corp. of the early Bronze Age was a frightful creature of the night Glenn Greenberg Alan Zelenetz PRINCE STREET NEWS: Mash ...... 24 A new cartoon by Karl Heitmueller, Jr. Karl Heitmueller, Jr. Heritage Comics FLASHBACK: Marvel Scream-Up ...... 26 Auctions Marvel’s monsters meet, greet, and beat (up) Spider-Man and the Thing Dan Johnson BRING ON THE BAD GUYS: Baron Blood ...... 38 Michael Kronenberg What villain could be worse than a sniveling Nazi vampire? James Heath Lantz BEYOND CAPES: Dracula vs. the ...... 43 Doug Moench The Lord of stakes his claim in the House of Ideas

FLASHBACK: Godzilla vs. the Marvel Universe ...... 56 Don’t STEAL our The King of Monsters takes on Marvel’s mightiest Digital Editions! PRO2PRO: Interviews with the Batman: Vampire Creators ...... 63 C’mon citizen, Doug Moench and Kelley Jones’ Batman: Rain trilogy DO THE RIGHT THING! A Mom BACKSTAGE PASS: Batman vs. Predator and Superman vs. Aliens ...... 71 & Pop publisher The earliest DC/Dark Horse superhero/movie monster crossovers like us needs every sale just to survive! DON’T BACK TALK ...... 79 DOWNLOAD News you can use OR READ ILLEGAL COPIES ONLINE! Buy affordable, legal downloads only at www.twomorrows.com BACK ISSUE™ is published 8 times a year by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, or through our Apple and Google Apps! NC 27614. Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: BACK ISSUE, c/o Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief, 112 Fairmount Way, New Bern, NC 28562. Email: [email protected]. Eight-issue subscriptions: $82 Economy US, $128 International, $32 Digital. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Cover art by Michael Golden. Superman, Titano the Super- & DON’T SHARE THEM WITH FRIENDS OR POST THEM ONLINE. Help us keep Ape, and the Daily TM & © DC Comics. All Rights Reserved. All characters are © their respective producing great publications like this one! companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2019 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING.

Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue • BACK ISSUE • 1 by Michael Eury

If you were by a thirsty bloodsucker, the clambering undead, or a snarling lycanthrope, you’d probably opt for the Man of in your corner Sticking His Neck Out rather than a . Or maybe not, since the —technically, magic—is among the few weaknesses of the Bronze Age Superman. Big Blue versus Dracula and the Yet beginning in 1970, when editor Julius “Julie” Schwartz slid into the Monster! Detail from the Superman editorial chair vacated by the recently retired , the DC Comics editor who had shepherded the Metropolis Marvel throughout cover of Superman #344 (Feb. 1980). the Silver Age of Comics, Superman would occasionally encounter monsters, Art by José Luis García-López. despite Schwartz’s clearly established preference for over matters . TM & © DC Comics.

Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue • BACK ISSUE • 3 SILVER AGE MONSTER MASH-UPS Before we unleash the musty odors of those brittle, yellowed pages from the ’70s and ’80s and the fearsome fables they contain, let’s first pry open the Mylar tombs of the previous era of comic books, the Silver Age, for some important historical gravedigging. Blustery, iron-fisted DC editor Mort Weisinger famously kept his eye on trends and conducted focus groups of children (his readership) while fishing for subject matter for his Superman writers. During this time, a proliferation of classic horror films invaded late-night and weekend-matinee television schedules thanks to Shock Theater and its slew of clones, low-budget camp-fests hosted by TV weathermen and local goofballs masquerading as spooky, yet witty cryptkeepers. Youngsters were discovering the Hollywood monsters of yesteryear while also being regaled by the current crop of cinematic creepers blobbing and tingling their way into darkened movie theaters. Kids loved monsters, and Mort took notice. And so Superman, Monster Fighter became one of the hero’s tropes when Weisinger was commanding the franchise (at first abetted by World’s Finest Comics editor , who, as legend has it, often bent to Mort’s formidable will). Amid Superman’s never-ending battle against supermen from other realms, robots, Luthor’s inventions, and a certain female reporter’s nutty marriage schemes, every few issues or so of Superman, , World’s Finest, , and even Superman’s Pal, and Superman’s Girl Friend, forced the Man (or Boy, or Baby) of Steel into conflict with a gruesome grotesquerie guaranteed to make the average kid peek nervously under his bed before turning out the light at night. The majority of those abominations challenging Superman (and at times, his World’s Finest BFFs Batman and ), however, were not the archetypal Famous Monsters of Filmland: the vampires, , and patchwork men of lore, Universal Studios shockers, and magazines. They were, instead, extraterrestrials. the Frankenstein-ish prototype, the “Invulnerable Enemy,” in Action Comics #226 (Mar. 1957), who was actually a “petrified spaceman,” tethering Superman to his sci-fi roots while only flirting with monsterdom. The same can be said of the monsters ambling through World’s Finest in the early ’60s, from the tentacled, pear-shaped “Alien Who Doomed Robin” (issue #110) to the saw-nosed Bigfoot called “The Creature That Was Exchanged for Superman” (#118)—they were among many, many cover-featured interplanetary visitors passing for monsters on Superman-related comics of the day. Weisinger, like Superman himself, was a product of science fiction. As a young man Mort was active in the burgeoning realm of sci-fi fandom, networking and forming professional relationships with other similarly minded visionaries, including Julie Schwartz. Before taking his job at DC, Weisinger edited sci-fi and pulp magazines—and years later, some of the horrific creatures he encountered in the pulps made their unofficial reappearances in the pages of the Superman titles. A domed-topped, bug-eyed automaton from the cover of the March 1940 edition of the pulp became “Jimmy Olsen’s Private Monster” 20 years later in Jimmy Olsen #43. And a towering, scaly man-monster from a pulp that Weisinger edited, Thrilling ’ July 1940 edition, was appropriated (with a supplanted Jimmy Olsen head) and introduced to DC readers as “The Giant Man” in Jimmy Olsen #53 (June 1961). Not only did Weisinger’s Boogey-Man Bistro stuff Superman readers silly with generous helpings of sci-fi-inspired monsters, but the editor’s story cauldron also simmered with kid-friendly pastiches of filmland’s most famous monsters that were dipped into by his writers, time and time again. Spooked by Wolf Man movie reruns? Then you’ll howl over Jimmy Olsen’s

Teenage Cub-Reporter Turtle (top) The terrifying titan on the cover of the July 1940 edition of the Thrilling Wonder Stories imprinted DC Comics’ Superman editor Mort Weisinger so much that he “borrowed” the for (bottom) one of Superman’s pal’s wildest transformations. Cover to Jimmy Olsen #53 (June 1961) by and Stan Kaye.

Thrilling Wonder Stories © 1940 Thriling Publications. Superman and Jimmy Olsen TM & © DC Comics.

4 • BACK ISSUE • Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue Farm (left) Warner Bros.’ Them! drove moviegoers buggy, and Weisinger took notice with If Weisinger wasn’t in the audience for 1954’s Them!—the schlocky giant ant movie that epitomized (right) Jimmy Olsen #54 (July 1961) and other the atomic-bomb parables of postwar America—some comics with Superman fighting giant ants. of the children in his focus groups must have seen it and excitedly reported to him, as giant ants often Cover by Swan and John Forte. Them! poster bolted from the crevices of Uncle Mort’s House of courtesy of Heritage (www.ha.com). Super-Scares. Actually, giant ants first infested Weisinger’s mind in the pulp magazine Thrilling Wonder Stories’ Them! © Warner Bros. Superman and Jimmy Olsen TM & © DC Comics. December 1938 issue, whose cover depicted a man riding the back of a menacing, enormous ant; this image was cribbed for the Curt Swan-drawn cover of transformations into “The Wolf-Man of Metropolis.” Jimmy Olsen #54 (July 1961), where Superman’s “pal” Shrinking from fear from Dr. and The Incredible lorded over -wielding giant ants. Also, a giant Shrinking Man? Then or an evil Olsen ant engineered “The Defeat of Superman” in Superman imposter is on hand—with pincers— #110 (Jan. 1957), and the Metropolis Marvel to after scampering miniaturized himself—with a mutated ant-head that Superman family members. Thrilled by would make The Fly’s David Hedison the mood swings of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. nervously blubber, “Help meeeeee!”— Hyde? Then don’t miss Lois Lane as led a skyscraper-scaling colony of giant the devilishly duplicitous “Madam ants in Action #296 (Jan. 1963). Jekyll of Metropolis.” Has The Dragons must have also polled high left you unraveled? Then be amazed among the focus-group kids, as as Superman cowers from a mummy’s Weisinger unleashed those scaly unveiling of his “Face of Fear.” Going fire-breathers with alarming frequency ape over ? Then watch in numerous Superman comics, stretching Superman monkey around with Titano, back to 1952 and Superman #78’s the Super-Ape, the lethal “The Beast from ” (many with kryptonite . Frankenstein mort weisinger monstrous creatures of fans muttered, “Mort, Good!” all types would follow). The Silver Age during the Silver Age: not only was © DC Comics. produced no shortage of Superman Superman’s topsy-turvy Bizarro a vs. dragon tales, from a dragon from King Arthur’s Frankensteinish view of the Action Ace through a Court, to a space dragon, to return bouts with the cracked lens, but a not-so-scary version of the -Dragon of Krypton. Even after the franchise Frankenstein Monster became a familiar cameo star changed editorial hands in the 1970s, dragons continued TM & © DC Comics. in Superman comics. Even Satan—or approximations to thunder into Superman tales, including the Superman/ thereof—raised a little in Silver Age Superman team-up in World’s Finest #205 and the tales, making Superman-marriage pacts with lovelorn Man of Steel’s apparent condoning of a dragon eating Lois and turning Supergirl into a demon! Metropolis citizens (!) in Superman #270.

Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue • BACK ISSUE • 5 by Michael Kronenberg

[Editor’s note: The following essay originally appeared warped perspectives and paranoic tilt shots, of shadows Creatures of in the book The Companion by Michael Eury and and silhouettes that gave credence to the thought that Michael Kronenberg (TwoMorrows, 2009). It has been he was indeed more bat than man. Dressed like a the Night edited for publication in BACK ISSUE.] wealthy count by day, he would emerge Dracula-like The at night for fantastic forays amidst moonlit settings.” It seems only fitting that Batman, the “creature of the Batman’s debut in 1939 closely coincided with Hollywood’s Guardian versus night,” would be pitted against the forces of terror in the exploration of horror in the movies. Man-Bat! Detective form of monsters, , and ghouls. In Batman’s first With Batman’s Bronze Age conversion, it followed year of existence, no less than three issues featured him suit that creators would renew his clash with the “armies Comics #400 battling vampires and werewolves in Hungary, and hulking of the night.” Many of Batman’s brushes with horror in (June 1970), featuring killer monsters created by . In many ways, the 1970s mirrored pop culture’s love of “things that go the Batman’s own costume and appearance indelibly bump in the night.” Man-Bat’s first links him to supernatural forces. appearance, and his In his groundbreaking book The Steranko History of OF YOUTH prompt return in Comics vol. 1 (1970), legendary comic-book artist Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams’ first collaboration finds and historian wrote, “Heavily steeped in Batman embroiled in a case involving a married couple issue #402. Covers Teutonic atmosphere, Batman conjured up visions of who have been alive for over 120 years. “The Secret of the by Neal Adams. vampires with his cloak, grim visage and white Waiting Graves” in #395 (Jan. 1970) finds slit eyes. He moved through cubistic backgrounds of Batman in Mexico investigating the strange occurrences TM & © DC Comics.

Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue • BACK ISSUE • 15 at the estate of Juan and Dolores Muerto. On the opening splash page the Batman stands over two open graves with the Muertos’ Life or names engraved on them. is a party guest of the Choices Muertos. Thugs, wolves, and falcons guard the Muertos’ compound, (top) Adams’ cover protecting their dark secret. They have discovered eternal youth through the rare Sybil flower, but the side effect is “total and for the gothic chiller utter insanity,” as described by a Mexican government agent. “The Secret of the The agent confronts the Muertos in the monastery where they hide their cache of flowers. The government agent is attacked by the Waiting Graves” in Muertos and Batman follows closely behind, only to be overtaken by Detective Comics #395 the strong hallucinogenic power of the Sybil flowers. Overcome by the flowers, the agent and Batman are bound and left for ravenous (Jan. 1970), at the falcons by the Muertos. Through sheer force of will Batman resists dawn of the Bronze the flowers’ effects and defeats the . He sets fire to the Age. (bottom) flowers. When the Muertos discover the fire they panic and run back to the monastery only to see the effects of the flowers’ fumes Courtesy of Heritage negated by their excitement. Neal Adams portrays the couple running, (www.ha.com), and panel-by-panel they age 100 years, dying before our eyes. They drop into the open graves we see on the story’s splash page. original Neal Adams The theme of attaining immortality and its final frightening cost cover art for has been explored many times in books, movies, and television. In 1935 RKO Pictures released She, produced by Merian C. Cooper, Man-Bat’s third who created King Kong. She is the story of a 500-year old civilization appearance, in ’Tec that is discovered in the Russian arctic and whose queen has lived that long by bathing herself in a mystical eternal flame. #407 (Jan. 1971). One of the most famous stories of eternal youth gone wrong TM & © DC Comics. is The Picture of Dorian Gray. The Oscar Wilde novel was adapted into a classic movie by MGM in 1945, starring Hurd Hatfield and George Sanders. It tells the story of Dorian Gray, a handsome young man who has his portrait painted. Under certain influences he becomes morally corrupt and as he ages, the portrait reflects his debauchery and age, while he remains youthful. Over time, the painting depicts a hideous monster and those close to Gray become suspicious of his eternal youth. Possibly the most underrated movie about the pitfalls of eternal life was Hammer Films’ The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959), starring Anton Diffring and directed by Terence . It features a truly terrifying ending that’s very similar to the final fate of the Muertos in “The Secret of the Waiting Graves.” The story unfolds as Dr. Georges Bonnet (Diffring) discovers he can live forever through periodic gland transplants from young, healthy victims. One of the finest episodes of The Twilight Zone explored the immortality topic in “Long Live Walter Jameson” (Season One, Episode 24, original airdate 3–18–60). Penned by the brilliant writer Charles Beaumont, it starred Kevin McCarthy as Walter Jameson. In this story, a father forbids a history professor from marrying his daughter when he discovers that the captivating lecturer has actually lived for thousands of years. Ironically, not long after this episode was aired, Charles Beaumont began to suffer from a rare form of advanced aging. He died at the age of 38 from Alzheimer’s disease. DR. JEKYLL AND MR. BAT The first major addition to Batman’s Rogues’ Gallery in the Bronze Age was the monstrous Man-Bat. Created by and Neal Adams, he made his in Detective Comics #400 (June 1970). Bat-researcher Langstrom desires to attain the of the bats he studies so he can “have a natural ability even the great Batman doesn’t possess!” By taking doses of gland-extract from the bats, Langstrom begins to develop super-sensitive hearing and possesses a bat’s natural sonar, which allows him to navigate in darkness. Side effects take place and Langstrom takes on the physical attributes of a giant bat—a Man-Bat. He desperately tries to discover an antidote. In his debut, Man-Bat fights alongside Batman, thwarting a gang of would be thieves at the museum where Langstrom works. Langstrom blames Batman for his condition, telling him, “It was your inspiration… your great fight against criminals of the night—that brought this on me!” In future issues, Man-Bat’s mutation would continue both physically and psychologically. In Detective Comics #402 (Aug. 1970), “Man or Bat?,” we find Langstrom working feverishly to put together

16 • BACK ISSUE • Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue Terrifying Tribute (left) Neal Adams’ Batman #227 cover, an homage to 1939’s moody cover for ’Tec #31.

TM & © DC Comics.

the ingredients for an antidote, but to no avail. He also develops giant RUNNIN’ WITH THE DEVIL bat-wings and can fly. He begins to lose his human traits, thinking and One of Neal Adams’ most celebrated covers is Batman #227 (Dec. 1970), becoming more like a bat. The story continues in Detective Comics #407 featuring an omnipresent Batman hovering over a fog-enshrouded (Jan. 1971), “Marriage: Impossible.” Man-Bat is now fully deranged and mansion, while a caped man lead by ravenous wolves chases a has kidnapped his fiancée Francine. She allows him to inject her with the fleeing woman. Adams’ cover is an homage to the cover for Detective bat-serum—changing her into She-Bat. Using the advanced lab equipment Comics #31 (Sept. 1939), which shows Batman in a similar pose with he possesses in the Batcave, Batman develops an antidote. After a a fog enveloped castle as the Monk (the Hungarian vampire) flees, protracted struggle with the bat-couple, Batman injects both Man-Bat carrying a woman. and She-Bat with his antidote, returning them to their human forms. Batman #227 contains Denny O’Neil’s story “The Demon of Neal Adams thought up and wrote a synopsis for a Man-Bat Gothos Mansion,” illustrated by and . In this story and intended to present it to . “I had been tale, Batman agrees to look in on Alfred’s thinking about how I was going to approach Julie because niece Daphne (she had previously appeared in Batman #216, I didn’t want this Man-Bat story changed and ruined,” Nov. 1969), who has taken on what has turned out to Adams recollects. He found his opportune time when be a troubling and worrisome position as a teacher for a story meeting between Schwartz and writer Frank the family of Clifton Heathrow. Batman finds Daphne Robbins turned up nothing fruitful. When Schwartz and quickly discovers she is being held captive by a asked Adams for ideas, he presented his Man-Bat coven of black-magic worshippers led by Heathrow. pitch. Adams was able to convince Schwartz to They are preparing to sacrifice her to the demon Ballk. use his idea, but the story had to be handed over After being captured himself and escaping from a to Robbins to write. deathtrap, Batman must overcome Heathrow’s follow- Man-Bat’s most recognizable influence is Robert ers and rescue Alfred’s niece. Louis Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Like Jekyll, Some of writer H. P. Lovecraft’s most well-known Langstrom develops an that will transform him stories dealt with strange cults that worshipped for the betterment of man, but the experiment goes demons and attempted to bring them back to life. woefully wrong, transforming him into a hideous neal adams Of particular note are The Dunwich Horror and The monstrosity. The two finest film adaptations of Call of Cthulhu. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are the 1920 version starring © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons. Legendary film director Jacques Tourneur’s Night John Barrymore and the 1931 version starring Frederic March. March won of the Demon (1957) tells the story of American psychologist John the Best Actor Academy Award for his portrayal. Holden (played by Dana Andrews) traveling to , where he The rather obscure 1957 film The Vampire bears some similarities participates in a symposium aiming to expose witchcraft and devil to Man-Bat. It has an interesting twist: The movie’s star, John Beal, worship as fraudulent. Holden focuses his attention on a cult run by plays a mild-mannered, small-town doctor who turns into a vampire Julian Karswell (played by Niall MacGinnis). Holden soon discovers that after accidentally ingesting pills that a deceased scientist had created Karswell does possess the ability to summon demons. Their confrontation while experimenting with vampire bats. The experiment attempted becomes a titanic battle of wits between good and evil. to regress the mind to primitive instincts so that methods could be The movie The Wicker Man (1973) deals with some of the elements found to improve our brains (seems like convoluted logic). But instead of “Demon of Gothos Mansion.” A policeman (played by Edward of improving the doctor’s mind, he becomes ill and addicted. He must Woodward) investigates reports of a missing girl in a strange, isolated take one pill every day. But each time he takes a pill he turns into a town. He finds the missing girl and believes she is going to be sacrificed monstrous and insane killer. by the town’s , Lord Summerisle (played by Christopher Lee).

Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue • BACK ISSUE • 17 GET A FREE COPY! Help us find a few missing pages, and better scans of others. Anonymity will be respected. ’S DINGBAT LOVE In cooperation with DC COMICS, TwoMorrows compiles a tempestuous trio of never-seen 1970s Kirby projects! These are the final complete, unpublished Jack Kirby stories in existence, presented here for the first time! Included are: Two unused DINGBATS OF DANGER STREET tales (Kirby’s final Kid Gang group, inked by and D. BRUCE BERRY, and newly colored for this book)! TRUE-LIFE DIVORCE, the abandoned newsstand magazine that was too hot for its time (reproduced from Jack’s pencil art—and as a bonus, we’ve commissioned MIKE ROYER to one of the stories)! And SOUL LOVE, the unseen ’70s romance book so funky, even a jive turkey will dig the unretouched inks by and TONY DeZUNIGA. PLUS: There’s Kirby historian JOHN MORROW’s in-depth examination of why these projects got left back, concept art and uninked pencils from DINGBATS, and a Foreword by former 1970s Kirby assistant ! SHIPS OCT. 2019! (160-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 (Digital Edition) $14.95 ISBN: 978-1-60549-091-5

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documenting each decade of CHRONICLES: 1940-44 comics history! In the latest volume, KURT MITCHELL and ROY THOMAS document the 1940-44 “Golden Age” of comics, a period that featured the earliest adventures of BATMAN, CAPTAIN MARVEL, SUPERMAN, and . It was a time when America’s entry into World II was presaged Look for the 1945-49 volume by the arrival of such patriotic do-gooders as ’s , and in 2020! IRV NOVICK’s The , and and JACK KIRBY’s —and teenage culture found expression in a fumbling red-haired high school student named Archie Andrews. But most of all, it was the age of “packagers” like HARRY A CHESLER, and EISNER and JERRY IGER, who churned out material for the entire gamut of genres, from stories and crime tales, to jungle sagas and science-fiction adventures. Watch the history of comics begin! NOW SHIPPING! (288-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $45.95 • (Digital Edition) $15.95 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-089-2

All characters TM & © their respective owners. Master of the Comics Beginning with his WPA etchings during the 1930s, MAC RABOY struggled to survive the Great Depression and eventually found his way into the comic book sweatshops of America. In that world of four-color panels, he perfected his art style on such creations as DR. VOODOO, ZORO the MYSTERY MAN, BULLETMAN, SPY , GREEN , and his crowning achievement, CAPTAIN MARVEL JR. Raboy went on to illustrate the GORDON Sunday newspaper strip, and left behind a legacy of meticulous perfection. Through extensive research and interviews with son DAVID RABOY, and assistants who worked with the artist during the Golden Age of Comics, author ROGER HILL brings Mac Raboy, the man and the artist, into focus for historians to savor and enjoy. This FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER includes never-before-seen photos, a wealth of rare and unpublished artwork, and the first definitive biography of a true Master of the Comics! Introduction by ROY THOMAS! ISBN: 978-1-60549-090-8 • NOW SHIPPING! (160-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 • (Digital Edition) $14.95 Roger Hill’s 2017 biography of REED CRANDALL sold out just months after its release—don’t let this one pass you by!Pre-order now! Phone: 919-449-0344 E-mail: [email protected] Silver Web: www.twomorrows.com Anniversary 1994-2019 TwoMorrows. 25 Years Don’t miss exclusive sales, limited editions, and new releases! Sign up for our mailing list: http:// The Future of Comics History. groups.yahoo.com/group/twomorrows TwoMorrows Publishing • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA by Dan Johnson and Michael Eury

Haunted House The Marvel Universe has always been filled with wonders nearly drove a stake through the heart of the comics and thrills, featuring amazing beings from countless business. In its wake arose the watchdog organization the of Ideas time periods and realms. Some were created to stir the , and as a result Atlas’ content steered (left) Morbius invades soul and rouse the human spirit. But others are dark and away from horror toward science fiction and fantasy. terrifying, created to chill the blood and make the faint Comicdom often regards the Atlas era of the 1950s Marvel Team-Up #3 of heart . While the Marvel Universe can be a bright and early 1960s as a monster-lovers paradise, and (July 1972). Cover and shining place, sometimes the brightest light casts the understandably so: The universe that would eventually darkest shadows… and in those shadows lurk the monsters. the Spider-Man and the X-Men was populated by and Before existed in the form that became by brutish behemoths like the , Zzutak, Bombu, Vince Colletta. popularized beginning in the early 1960s, the publisher Googam, Torr, and Fang Foom! Initially, these Atlas was known as . Atlas was like a lot of the monsters were birthed in science, or they came from (right) A Thing or other comics companies of the 1950s. They published other worlds, since science-gone-wrong creations and two, on the Kane/ , , jungle comics, humor comics, alien were Comics Code-friendly. Plus, these sci-fi and even dusted off their best superheroes from stories and the monsters presented therein appealed to John Romita, Sr. cover the 1940s like Captain America, the , kids who were watching chiller and flying-saucer films and Sub-Mariner, to see if there was a market for them. that ran at their local movie theaters or on television, to Marvel Two-in- And then there were Atlas’ . In the early usually presented by a horror host on their local stations. One #1 (Jan. 1974). 1950s, Atlas published such spooky titles as Adventures But Atlas’ publishing content would change with the into Weird Worlds, Menace, and Suspense. Then came Dr. uniting of superheroes dedicated to fighting for … TM & © Marvel. Frederic Wertham’s juvenile-delinquency witch-hunt that that belonged to the Distinguished Competition.

26 • BACK ISSUE • Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue in 1962, the Mighty battled Stone Men from Saturn, while the next year, took on an alien A Scientific Nightmare invasion led by a creature called Gargantus. and famously melded superhero (top) Six-armed Spidey is and monster comics in The Amazing Spider-Man #6 slapped silly by the Living (Nov. 1963), when the Web-Slinger came “Face-to- Face… with the !” In this story, Spidey searches Vampire on the Kane/Romita for a monster that is terrorizing the Florida Everglades cover to Amazing Spider-Man and seeks help from Dr. Curt Connors, a renowned expert on lizards who happens to live in the area where #101 (Oct. 1971). (bottom right) the creature has been seen. Spidey soon discovers Peter Parker is haunted by Connors’ dark secret: that Dr. Connors is actually the Lizard! Connors, an amputee, studied reptile his Morbius clash, in Marvel regeneration in an obsession to regrow his missing Team-Up #4 (Sept. 1972). arm and, in a tragic twist reminiscent of a Lon Chaney, Jr. Wolf Man flick, transformed into an uncontrollable (bottom left) Artist Gil Kane’s beast. The Lizard might have felt at home in the rough layouts for MTU #4’s pages of an Atlas Comics title just a few years prior, but he was also a forerunner of the Marvel creatures opening page, courtesy of to come in the Bronze Age. Heritage (www.ha.com). As the 1960s marched on, the role of monsters in the Marvel Universe diminished and superheroes and TM & © Marvel. began to dominate the comics pages. Later in the decade, however, cultural mores began shifting. In 1968, the movie industry established a rating system that clearly delineated between films intended for children or general audiences and films intended for adults. This allowed filmmakers more creative freedom. Soon, horror filmmakers used the new rating system to push boundaries. In the world of comics, a new brand of horror anthologies—in a genre safely branded as “mystery”—began to appear, mostly at DC. In 1971 the Comics Code Authority was revised to once again allow the depictions of vampires, werewolves, and ghouls, which had been banished in the mid-1950s. Now that the monsters were no longer forbidden, they were soon to make a comeback that would prove to be a scream!

28 • BACK ISSUE • Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue As I arrive in the mountains of Romania, an ancient castle lies before me. I knew such castles from my childhood in , that land of imbecilic knights and screaming maidens. It is a country I have come to loathe. Everyone said Stoker’s penny dreadful was fiction. They mocked me for believing. Yet here I stand. The castle doors will not budge, but I find the servant’s entrance and push it open inch by inch. I laugh. No barrier can long delay the true heir of Falsworth. I enter through a door meant for peasants, but I will leave here the master of this land, with my own undead slaves. My torch lit, I move through the dusty kitchen. I walk into the grand foyer, past an ancient piano and ruined chandelier. scurry from the flickering light. Finally, I find it. The stone staircase leading to the lower depths. I ignore the cobwebs that lick my face as I tread carefully through broken stones and burn-scarred walls. Fearful locals have destroyed most of this once mighty fortress, except for the hidden room I seek. Checking the small map which cost me dearly, I pull down the wall sconce and the hidden door swings back. I shove hard, forcing an opening wide enough to squeeze through. Ahh… there they are. Four -black coffins that still have a sheen of polish to their timeworn exteriors. I pry the largest one open with my hammer and chisel. After some effort, I thrust the lid of the coffin onto the stone floor. And there he is. Alabaster-skinned Dracula, Lord of the Undead. Fortune and await me now. I shall control this by monster, and the world will be mine… including my despised homeland. Jerry Smith Unexpectedly, the demon’s eyes open and he takes me in with a withering glance. “What have we here?” he states, as one would address a cockroach. Before I can reach my cross or stake, he engulfs my throat in a vise-like embrace. “I thirst,” he seethes, and his fangs flash like razors. My last thought of that life is, “How? How can my perfect plans have failed so utterly?” When I wake, I am… something else. I am no longer the master here, if I ever was. I am the slave.

Over the decades, creators have done an amazing job bringing nuance to comic-book characters; heroes, villains, even supporting casts. was scarred by his childhood experiences in a concentration camp. Dr. Doom has an innate nobility and honor to complement his campaign for world domination. However, occasionally superhero fans welcome an antagonist of pure, undiluted malevolence. Fans, meet Baron Blood. John Falsworth, a.k.a. the bloody Baron, is not just a ; he’s a vampire Nazi supervillain. They don’t come more evil than that. FIRST BLOOD The good Baron first bit into the Marvel Universe in Invaders #7 (July 1976). The Invaders, of course, were Marvel’s premier superhero team of World War II. Charter members included Captain America and ; the original Human Torch, Jim Hammond; his kid sidekick ; and a prickly , the Sub-Mariner. The Invaders spent the bulk of their time in Europe, fighting the Axis menace. Their war cry of “Axis, here we come!” sent many enemy soldiers scattering in fear for their lives [see BACK ISSUE #39 for more on this iconic Bronze Age series—ed.]. The comic was created and written by Roy Thomas, and mostly drawn by artist Frank Robbins. Robbins is often criticized by collectors for having an over-the-top, cartoony style, but his art worked perfectly for Thomas’ kinetic and action-filled Invaders tales.

Bad Blood The Star-Spangled necks with Baron Blood in Captain America #254 (Feb. 1981). Cover by and Joe Rubinstein.

TM & © Marvel.

38 • BACK ISSUE • Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue When The Tomb of Dracula launched in 1972, readers could be forgiven for thinking that the series was set outside the Marvel Universe. Based on its unrelentingly dark mood and tone, its singular style, and especially its insular nature, it was anything but clear that the Lord of the Undead and his most relentless pursuers— Rachel Van Helsing, Frank Drake, and Quincy Harker— lived on the same Earth as the numerous costumed crimefighters, godlike beings, and cosmic crusaders appearing in Marvel’s other titles. That was very much intentional on the part of the Dracula creative team. But over time, as commercial considerations—namely sales figures—became more of a factor, the dividing line between ’s world and the Marvel Universe blurred. What had once seemed highly unlikely— Dracula crossing paths with the likes of a certain Web-Slinger, a Master of the Mystic Arts, and a former herald of —became a reality. Such encounters were kept to a minimum, at first. But a growing number of Marvel’s writers seemed to by Glenn Greenberg find as irresistible as his many victims did, and, , Dracula eventually became not just a vampire but a full-blown supervillain. To the writer most associated with Marvel’s version of Dracula, this was not an ideal development. WORLDS APART “To me, all of the horror books were outside the Marvel Universe,” says Marv Wolfman, who took over as the writer of Tomb of Dracula with #7 (Mar. 1973) and remained until the very end. (Wolfman’s arrival followed two-issue stints by, in order, Gerry Conway, , and .) “It was a hard enough problem creating mood, tension, and suspense in a comic book, which is all still pictures. But to then have to worry about superheroes or supervillains at the same time—I didn’t feel that would work,” he tells BACK ISSUE. Wolfman was diligent about keeping Tomb of Dracula its own thing. “Every writer at Marvel at that time had one book that was unique,” he says. “For Roy [Thomas], it was . —. Don McGregor— Black Panther. Doug Moench—Master of Kung Fu. Dracula was the special book for me, and I was not going to let that be screwed up, no matter what.” Wolfman was not totally averse to crossovers, as long as they felt natural. He expressed no objections to Dracula’s run-in with Robert E. Howard’s Puritan adventurer, , who often fought supernatural threats. That encounter, set several centuries in the past, occurred in a story written by Roy Thomas and illustrated by and the inking team “The Crusty Bunkers,” and published in the black-and-white magazine Dracula Lives! #3 (Oct. 1973). (A sequel, by writer Donald F. Glut and artist David Wenzel, ran in The Savage Sword of Conan #26, Jan. 1978.) It also felt appropriate for Dracula to guest-star in The Frankenstein Monster #7–9 (Nov. 1973–

Blood Ororo gets a taste of vampirism on the creepy, cool Bill Sienkiewicz cover of X-Men Annual #6 (1982).

TM & © Marvel.

Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue • BACK ISSUE • 43 Mar. 1974), written by , penciled by , and inked by John Verpoorten. Set in the late 1890s, the three-part storyline revealed that the Frankenstein Monster unwittingly helped to resurrect Dracula shortly after his death at the end of ’s novel. And The Tomb of Dracula #18 crossed over with by Night #15 (both Mar. 1974), which made sense too—especially since Wolfman was writing both titles. (Yes, Marvel’s werewolf comic book was at one time being written by a guy named Wolfman.) Still, there came a point when the needs of the company overrode artistic integrity. In 1974, Marvel decided to launch “Giant-Size” 64-page comics starring its top-selling characters, one of which, of course, was Spider-Man. For the Giant-Size Spider-Man series, the idea was to emulate Marvel Team-Up, where each issue would pair the Web-Slinger with another Marvel character. It was decided that the first issue would feature Spider-Man co-starring with— you guessed it—Dracula, whose own title was already receiving widespread acclaim. “For some months now, we’ve been on the receiving end of letters regarding the possibility of an issue of our ever- popular Marvel Team-Up mag being devoted to a meeting of two of Marvel’s mightiest super-stars—none other than the Amazing Spider-Man and the diabolical Count Dracula,” then-Marvel editor-in-chief Roy Thomas wrote in an article published in Giant-Size Spider-Man #1 (July 1974). “An equal number cried ‘Heaven forfend!’ to the whole thing, and decreed/demanded that Morbius and the Man-Wolf were fine, since they fit in the same science-fictional atmosphere as the Wall-Crawler himself—but that a -negotiable would descend upon our heads if we dared cross the line… to feature Dracula and his Undead ilk.” But, as Thomas revealed, the story was inevitable, based on the popularity of both characters. He acknowledged the “vague, uneasy relationship” between Marvel’s superhero titles and what he termed the company’s “mystery mags.” A story starring Spider-Man and Dracula would, he explained, finally answer a that readers had been asking for quite some time: “Where does Dracula fit in the Marvel Universe? Is he in the same space/time continuum as Spider-Man… Morbius… the Hulk… Conan, for that matter?” Thomas answered with an unequivocal “yes.” Explaining his reasoning, he wrote that, as opposed to DC Comics, “What Smilin’ Stan Lee had in mind there, a little over a decade ago now, was a consistent Universe—where Spidey and Dr. Strange and the Hulk could develop side by side with yet-undreamed-of Marvel co-stars like Dracula, Conan, and even , Warrior of the Worlds.” There was one problem, however. Wolfman was opposed to a Spider-Man/Dracula encounter—enough to decide to have nothing to do with it. “I turned it down,” he says. “They had someone else write it because I wouldn’t do it.”

Team-Ups of Terror (top left) Drac and the Monster, in Marvel’s Frankenstein #8 (Jan. 1974). Cover by John Buscema. (top right) A Count/Wall-Crawler team-up (sort of) in Giant-Size Spider-Man #1 (July 1974). Cover by John Romita, Sr. (bottom) Tomb of Dracula scribe Marv Wolfman’s first Dracula/Marvel , with Brother Voodoo, in #35 (Aug. 1975). Cover by Gil Kane and .

TM & © Marvel.

44 • BACK ISSUE • Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue On the current cinema scene, Marvel and Godzilla are two of the biggest box-office attractions in the world. Fans love both the superhero -ups of Marvel and the Kaiju [Japanese giant-monsters—ed.] smackdowns of the world of Godzilla, and it seems that every subsequent film focusing on both hero and on monster will make box-office bank. Imagine if the two words collided—if the world of Godzilla and the world of Marvel crashed together in a seismic, Kaiju-versus-hero rumble with Iron Man, Thor, Dr. Strange, or the Hulk, testing their heroic mettle against the biggest, baddest monster of them all. Verily, the heavens would shake. In the Bronze Age, fans did not have to imagine this improbable monster-versus-hero mayhem because in the late ’70s, TM Marvel versus Godzilla was a reality. In 1977 writer Doug Moench and the late, great artist delivered the blazing-hot Godzilla #1 (Aug. 1977) to ravenous Marvel fans. At that time, Godzilla was a TV staple, with the King of the Monster’s films appearing all over syndicated and local television in various “Monster Week” incarnations. Yes, Godzilla was huge in 1977, and so was Marvel, as the House of Ideas became home to many outside licenses. Marvel welcomed with open arms Toho Co. Ltd.’s Godzilla into the house that Stan and Jack built. Herb Trimpe was no stranger to big, green, angry protagonists, as he had already become one of the DOUG MOENCH most legendary Incredible Hulk artists in Marveldom by Marc Buxton assembled. Trimpe taking the artistic chores of a bigger and greener monster just seemed perfect, and with the new Godzilla title basically being a Kaiju tour of the Marvel Universe, it made sense to have a yeoman Marvel artist like Trimpe leading the charge. Many Marvel heroes would appear in the pages of Godzilla, but it was a Marvel legend of a different kind that recruited writer Doug Moench to the project. “As I recall,” Moench tells BACK ISSUE, “I believe this was the one time Stan Lee himself asked me to do something specific. I don’t know why [he thought] I would be good for the project, but I remember going to a screening of a new Godzilla movie with Stan. He had a great time; he just laughed and clapped the whole time, but I thought it was really goofy. But I thought it was a good opportunity to do something different, to write a book aimed at younger readers.” In many of the Toho films, kids were Godzilla’s greatest allies, and it was this youthful appeal that drew Moench to the project. “I kept telling Stan, ‘Our readership is aging with us. At this point, most of them are adults.’ I thought we should be targeting kids more. If we couldn’t do it with the price, we’d do it with the kind of stories… I would do Godzilla deliberately aimed at kids. It wouldn’t be juvenile, it wouldn’t be talking down to kids. I would try to do it in a way adults could also enjoy. It would be designed to hit those things kids responded to in Godzilla. And kids were obsessed with Godzilla. Stan took three seconds and said, ‘You got it, Doug.’” So a title was born, a Godzilla book that would merge the world of Godzilla with the Marvel Universe, with the mission statement of attracting young readers. Unfortunately, Marvel’s deal with Toho did not allow for Godzilla’s more famed friends like Rodan or Mothra or foes like Gidorah to accompany Godzilla to the House of Ideas. But fans did get to see Trimpe’s Godzilla go against some of Marvel’s most legendary heroes. Plus, fans even got to witness some of Moench and Trimpe’s original creations survive and become part of the Marvel Universe after the Big G’s book was cancelled. So let us observe Kaiju history from a safe distance and witness the greatest geekdom battle royal of all, Godzilla versus the Marvel Universe, brought to us by two true , Moench and Trimpe!

Earth’s Mightiest Heroes vs. the King of Monsters Marvel’s Big Guns take on Toho’s Big G on the Herb Trimpe/ Dan Green cover to Marvel’s Godzilla #23 (June 1979).

Godzilla © Toho Company Ltd. Marvel characters TM & © Marvel.

56 • BACK ISSUE • Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue Batman vs. Dracula Kelley Jones’ Batman & Dracula: Red Rain promotional art from 1991. Original art scan courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com).

TM & © DC Comics.

conducted by Christopher Larochelle transcribed by Rose Rummel-Eury

Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue • BACK ISSUE • 63 As explored recently in BACK ISSUE #111, DC Comics has a rich history the finest examples of the comics were the “Batman: of “imaginary stories,” or tales in which comic-book creators cast a different Vampire” comics that ran sporadically throughout the 1990s, light on the familiar situations faced by the company’s characters. 1989 saw courtesy of the collaborative vision of writer Doug Moench and the publication of Gotham by Gaslight, which thrust Batman into artist Kelley Jones. Victorian England in a story written by Brian Augustyn and drawn by A trilogy of graphic novels (1991’s Red Rain, 1994’s Bloodstorm, . Gaslight led to DC editorial crafting a new imprint called and late 1998’s Crimson Mist) chronicles the Dark Knight’s darkest Elseworlds that would become a revitalization of the “imaginary story” journey ever. While horror elements have been a part of the Batman concept forged in previous decades. mythos since some of the character’s earliest stories, no creative team While many Elseworlds stories came about before the imprint ever had the opportunity to take that part and run wild with it quite quietly folded in 2003, it wasn’t every story and creative team that like Moench and Jones did. really tapped fully into the potential the imprint offered. Some of – Christopher Larochelle Interview with Batman: Vampire Artist Kelley Jones Kelley Jones is renowned for being a master of horror-filled comic-book art. Some projects at DC directly led to his involvement with the Batman: Vampire graphic novels. 1989 saw the publication of : Love After Death, a Prestige Format story written by that really let Jones cut loose on a style that emphasized that was completely befitting the character. Not long after, Jones collaborated with on some key stories for (most notably, the Season of Mists arc, which featured a journey straight into the depths of Hell). The work on Sandman directly led to a phone call from Doug Moench, and for years afterward, the names of Moench and Jones would become synonymous with great Batman stories.

CHRISTOPHER LAROCHELLE: How was it that you became attached to the Red Rain project? You were pretty busy with DC work at the time. KELLEY JONES: Malcolm Jones III called me and said he was working with Doug Moench, which made me freeze up. Doug was a hero of mine. I was working with contemporaries at the time: Mike Baron, , Neil Gaiman. I hadn’t really worked with legendary people—no one I had grown up reading. At that point, Malcolm said, “If you want, I’ll pass on your number. He has an idea that he wants to ask you about.” I said, “Of course, I’d love that.” I was all nervous. I thought he’d call in a couple of days and he called 20 minutes later! He said, “I’d love to pitch you an idea. It’s something different.” He said it would star Batman and he would fight… Dracula. My heart just sank! I was thinking I would get the , the , one of the cool rogues… a big special project! It’s going to be like The Killing Joke or something! But it sounded silly to me… Dracula? Doug said, “Look, I’ve typed this up and I’m going to FedEx it to you. Before you say anything, I want you to read it over. Then we’ll talk about it and you can decide whether you want to do it.” I’m thinking about how I can get out of this and not offend him. If I’m going to do Batman, I’m going to do Batman. I’m thinking that this project is or something. Anyway, the mail arrives and I’m thinking, “I’m going to read it over, at least. I can point out certain things I’m not crazy about or certain things that are silly.” I was ready to defend my position of not taking it. I was used to proposals like Neil Gaiman’s Season of Mists, which was on one page. This was easily 20 pages. It’s pretty detailed. I read three pages of it and it was so good, I put it down and called him up and said, “I’m in.” He said, “How did Batman Has Risen from the Grave (obviously) you like it?” I said, “I don’t know; I only read three pages.” Things moved quickly from there. I had been offered Covers to the Batman: Red Rain trilogy, plus Batman: Sandman monthly, but I couldn’t turn this down. Dark Joker: The Wild. LAROCHELLE: So you were convinced. JONES: Yes. But as much as I loved this new project, TM & © DC Comics. I still didn’t see it as being a big hit. I saw it as a very

64 • BACK ISSUE • Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue by James Heath Lantz

DC Superheroes vs. Dark Horse Movie Monsters (left) ’s rock ’em-sock ’em cover to Batman versus Predator #3 (1991). (right) Dan Jurgens and ’s Superman/Aliens #3 (1995) cover.

Batman and Superman TM & © DC Comics. Predator and Aliens TM & © 20th Century Fox.

“Soon the hunt will begin.” “In space no one can hear you scream.” (Tagline for Predator.) (Tagline for Alien.) Who is the hunter? the scream comes from Who is the hunted? a Kryptonian?

Those questions probably came to mind when DC Comics and BUT FIRST… creators got together for the Batman versus In 1979, director Ridley Scott, writers Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Predator and Superman/Aliens projects. Combining the cinematic Shusett, and artist H. R. Giger gave horror a new face from space to creatures that took on Sigourney Weaver and scare-film audiences in Alien. Seven years after Alien’s crew of the on the big screen with DC Comics’ World’s Finest heroes was USSS Nostromo was slaughtered by what was later called a Xenomorph, nothing more than questions of “What if Batman Fought the ship’s sole survivor, , played by Sigourney Weaver, the Predator?” and “Could Superman beat a Xenomorph?” before is awakened after being in suspended animation for 15 years to battle 1991’s Batman versus Predator and 1995’s Superman/Aliens a colony of the creatures in James Cameron’s sequel Aliens. were released. In 1987, one year after Aliens, cinema audiences went to the jungles of BACK ISSUE has a ringside seat to fandom’s battles of the century with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Jesse Ventura, as the Dark Knight takes on the extraterrestrial hunter and the Man and their group of special-forces commandos as they go from hunter of Steel fights Xenomorphs and Facehuggers. Watch out for the to prey. They are pursued by a menace from the stars, a -cloaked acid blood, dear readers. “invisible” slayer—often called Yautja or Hish-qu-Ten in expanded media—

Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue • BACK ISSUE • 71 created by effects Stan Winston in writers Jim and THE HUNT BEGINS John Thomas’ and director John McTiernan’s Predator. The success of AvP led Dark Horse Comics to plan their The Aliens and Predator film franchises, 20th Century next steps for the franchise. That ended up being an Fox properties, expanded when Dark Horse Comics intercompany crossover. Dark Horse and DC Comics got published comic books based upon them beginning in together to bring the Predator to what writer Dave the late 1980s. Their universes merged into Aliens versus Gibbons describes as the perfect hunting ground, a RoboBat Predator (AvP) comic books in 1990. They would go surreal and gloomy place called . Batman An armored Batman on to inspire video games and films where both versus Predator #1 combined the worlds of the killer space creatures would duke it out. Caped Crusader and the “one ugly mother battles the extra- Batman and Superman both have a long, [BLEEP]” that pursued Arnold together with terrestrial hunter on rich history that spans many decades in that December 1991 cover-dated book, comics, film, and television. Both DC launching a three-issue miniseries. this dynamite Comics superheroes have been the A heat wave has come to Gotham Kubert/Kubert subject of great stories in every medium City. A Predator arrives, believing a and have been seen on many big heavyweight-boxing between original art page and small screens all over the world. Marcus King and Bull Bersaglio to be a from Batman versus Four Superman films starring Christopher contest of who is the greatest warrior on Reeve and two Batman movies helmed Earth. No one is safe when the creature’s Predator #3. Art scan by starring Michael Keaton grisly hunt paints the streets red with courtesy of Heritage were perhaps the most prominent for blood, not even the fighters’ gangster BACK ISSUE readers. dave gibbons bosses Alex Yeager and Leo Brodin. Comics Auctions As 1991 drew to a close, Superman When Batman arrives to investigate suffered a “Blackout,” and Batman fell Gage Skidmore. their murders, the hunter from the (www.ha.com). victim to “The Idiot Root” in their main comics, stars becomes curious. Perhaps the human dressed as a Batman TM & © DC Comics. while the first Aliens versus Predator series was collected nocturnal flying creature will be a better trophy for him. Predator TM & © 20th Century Fox. in a trade . Our story begins here…. The first bout between Batman and the Predator leaves the Dark Knight battered, beaten, and nearly blind. However, in spite of ’s protests, he must battle the Predator once again. This time, the Caped Crusader dons a sonar armor that allows him to see his foe when it is invisible. Their final round takes them from Gotham City’s rooftops to the Batcave with Alfred firing the family heirloom blunderbuss at the Predator. One of Batman’s weapons of choice is, appropriately, a bat that knocks the extra- terrestrial beast for a loop. Their conflict eventually concludes at the outskirts of , as a ship full of other Predators lands. The one who stalked Batman commits honor suicide, and his kinsmen give the Masked its sword as a trophy. After the spacecraft leaves, Alfred worries about the monsters returning. “They won’t,” Batman reassures his closest confidant, “Not now that they’ve met what lives in Gotham.” A hunter’s moon greets Batman and Alfred leaving the latter and readers to wonder how correct the Dark Knight is about the Predators. Batman versus PredatorIF YOU ,ENJOYED due to two THIS publishers PREVIEW, working in tandem, hadCLICK a pair THE of editorsLINK TO overseeing ORDER THISthe project: Dennis O’NeilISSUE for IN DC PRINT and Diana OR DIGITAL Schutz for FORMAT! Dark Horse. According to O’Neil’s account of events in his introduction for the Batman versus Predator collected edition, he had to do very little work as he had faith in Schutz and the creative team of writer Dave Gibbons and artists Andy and Adam Kubert. Gibbons and Adam Kubert took time out of their busy schedules to tell BACK ISSUE how Batman versus Predator came to be. Kubert begins by talking about his winning the 1992 for Best for the project. “Andy and I have a running joke,” Kubert says. “He calls the award ‘Best Tracer,’ and I say I made him look good. Seriously, though, it was an honor to win the award. I wasn’t there to receive it, but my good friend was kind enough to accept it for me.” Kubert tells BACK ISSUE ofBACK when ISSUEhe and #116 his brother SUPERHEROES VS. MONSTERS! Monsters in Metropolis, Batman Andy were assignedand theto Horror Batman Genre, DOUGversus MOENCH Predator and KELLEY, “I JONEScan ’ Bat- tell you it was a dreamman: Vampire,project. Marvel Diana Scream-Up, Schutz Dracula called and Godzilla Andy vs. Marvel, DC/Dark Horse Hero/Monster crossovers, and a Baron Blood and me up and askedvillain us history. if we’d With CLAREMONT, be interested CONWAY, in DIXON,drawing GIBBONS, Batman versus PredatorGRELL, GULACY,, which JURGENS, wasTHOMAS, a WOLFMAN,no-brainer and a cover [successful project] toby MICHAEL begin with.GOLDEN. Then we found out Dave Gibbons was writing it, which(84-page was FULL-COLOR the icing magazine) on the $8.95 cake. (Digital Edition) $4.95

http://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=98_54&products_id=1431 72 • BACK ISSUE • Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue